2. Endorsement dollars, with sources using ranging from Forbes to ESPN contributors

3. Social media followers, with ESPN taking only the platform in which the player had his or her most followers into account.

Rose's search score wasn't all that impressive, ranking 15 - the average on the top 100 list had a score of 35. But with Bulls fans, NBA fans and now of course Timberwolves fans chiming in on his game, Rose's name came across plenty of timelines and search engines.

Rose's $14 million in endorsements - primarily from that massive Adidas deal - was better than the average $12.6 million of the top 100 athletes.

Rose's top social media page is on Facebook, where he currently has more than 10.7 million likes. This, as ESPN notes, is largely due to the international following Rose and so many other NBA athletes have built up over the years.

In 2016, Rose ranked No. 30 on the list. In 2017 he was No. 33 on the list, so while he isn't trending in the right direction there's no denying his presence in the sports landscape. Love him or hate him, Derrick Rose still matters.

Rose just finished a partial season with the Minnesota Timberwolves (a.k.a. the TimberBulls), playing under former Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau, and seemed to regain some of his former glory by averaging 14.2 points per game in five playoff games off the bench. He is now an unrestricted free agent.

Could this mean he is going to return to Chicago for another stint with the Bulls? Probably not.

Rose is, of course, a native Chicagoan and the Advocate Center opened in time for Rose's last two years with the Bulls. Both the city and the facility are familiar to Rose, which makes it an ideal place to train in the offseason. That surely won't stop hardcore Rose fans in Chicago from wishing it into an omen.

The Knicks led the Bulls late in the second quarter of Game 3 of the playoffs' first round. Then Michael Jordan added an iconic moment to what was quickly becoming an illustrious career, reversing course on John Starks and Charles Oakley, driving baseline and dunking all over Patrick Ewing (this will come up again later). Jordan finished with 33 points as the Bulls completed a sweep of the Knicks, closing New York out in Madison Square Garden. They would go on to win their first title later that summer.

- Zach LaVine sends JaKarr Sampson back to the G-League

The most recent of the dunks, and we really wanted to get a current Bulls player in the list. LaVine was in the midst of his best stretch in his early tenure with the Bulls, averaging 26.5 points over a four-game span. And the most emphatic pair of points was scored in Sacramento, when LaVine rose up on JaKarr Sampson to put the Bulls ahead by 14 right before half. LaVine finished that game with 27 points on 9 of 18 shooting. And the funniest part? Sampson was sent back to the G-League the following day. Rumor has it he's still down there.

- Goran Dragic fails to get the memo on Derrick Rose

It could be the best dunk on this list. The Bulls held a lead on a Suns team that was 16-4 up until that point. That's when Rose went upstairs off a half-court pass from Tyrus Thomas, dunking all over 23-year-old Goran Dragic, then a rarely used reserve behind Steve Nash. And Stacey King was up to the task of hyping up a dunk of such ferocity. The Bulls would go on to win the game, with Rose finishing with 32 points on 15 of 21 shooting.

- Taj Gibson welcomes home Dwyane Wade

Oh, what a time. In the midst of the Bulls rocking the Heat by 21 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Taj Gibson set the tone for the series by going all the way upstairs in dunking over Dwyane Wade early in the second quarter. The best part of it all was Wade's tweet the following afternoon.

I had 2 laugh at ths..I was playing my oldest son Zaire on his nerf rim & he dunked & said Gibson while screaming..L2MS Kids u gotta luv em

It's Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, the Bulls' final game in Chicago Stadium. And, boy, did Scottie Pippen ever close it down with a thunderous boom, dunking all over Patrick Ewing, who finished the regular season fifth in blocks. But he didn't add to his tally on this fast break, with Pippen going up top for the slam and then ruthlessly standing over the 7-footer. The Bulls won 93-79.